Warmth
by awkwardbean03
Summary: But, in the corner of his eye, there was a little ball of light. Through tear-filled eyes, the boy turned to look through his hazy vision to see a girl. A simple girl with pigtails and bright pink jeans. She was a ball of light, and he wasn't sure how to react. He had never seen a light this bright before...
1. Warmth

**Hey guys! So, this fix is a little more angsty than normal. I'm not entirely sure where the inspiration for this post came from. I think it is a mixture between my own depression (I'm fine I promise) and my want to help our poor, broken kitten. I'll explain the story in clearer wording at the bottom of the post. So, please enjoy!!!**

**I don't own Miraculous Ladybug, otherwise Chat Noir would not be pushed to the side as often as he is.**

_Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter._

That was the only sound that accompanied the sobs coming from a boy. A boy, broken beyond repair. Yet, this boy continues to smile. Continues to laugh. Continues to put on a mask for those around him. Not wanting to bother others with emotions he's been trained not to feel. No one truly knows how broken this boy is. Not even the boy himself. For he wears this mask so often, keeps this mask in such good condition, making sure it's consistently shiny and clean, that he isn't always sure whether or not it is truly a mask.

So he runs.

He runs, and runs, and runs the horrid feelings away. Runs so fast that the tears streaming from his eyes fly off before they've had a chance to fall. Runs so hard that the aching loneliness is replaced with the aching need to give his muscles a break. Runs for so long that the panting is from him needing to properly breathe instead of anxiety. Runs so far away from the empty mansion he calls home that he doesn't have to have a visual reminder of what awaits when he inevitably returns.

But this run was different. During this run, he was blind. He didn't care where he was going, didn't care where he ended up. It wouldn't have mattered to him in the end, for he couldn't see where he was running to anyways. For no matter how hard he ran, the tears fell in steady streams. So he ran harder, ran faster, ran longer, until his body gave up. He collapsed. And he wept. And wept, and wept, and wept. He pulled at his picture perfect hair, scratched at his perfectly smooth skin, chewed on his perfectly pink lips. He drew blood, and even that was perfectly red. Dripping in perfect drops. Everything from the inside out was programmed to be perfect. From the way he talked to the way he walked. And he was sick of it.

_Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter._

Even though it was raining, he didn't feel a thing. Even though he was bleeding, all he could feel was static. He may have been cold, but he was past the point of caring. He may have been tired, but sleeping isn't for the broken. Besides, who needs to feel when everything around you is dark. When the air around you is heavy with guilt and sadness, there is no reason to truly feel. Just put on a mask and everything will be fine. One doesn't have to see the heavy air around them when they block it with a mask. One doesn't have to focus on the tragedies in one's life when they can pretend they've never happened.

_Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter._

But, in the corner of his eye, there was a little ball of light. Through tear-filled eyes, the boy turned to look through his hazy vision to see a girl. A simple girl with pigtails and bright pink jeans. She was a ball of light, and he wasn't sure how to react. He had never seen a light this bright before. Not even with his lady, not even with his friends. This ball of light seemed . . . too good to be true. But what was one more disappointment on top of an already impossibly high stack?

So he reached for the light. Allowed the light to take his hand and lead him inside. Allowed the light to take a towel that was warm and dry him off. Allowed the light to stick a warm macaroon into his mouth, forcing him to eat. Allowed the light to drape warm blanket after blanket over him until he was covered from head to toe. Allowed the light to embrace him with her warmth, showing him he didn't have to be full of static. Allowed the light to grow and grow and grow until he couldn't see anymore darkness, allowed the light to take all the cold air that was surrounding him and replace it with warm, comforting air.

Warmth.

It's funny, he would later think to himself. How all it took for him to learn the meaning of this word was a warm towel to dry him off, a warm macaroon, a warm pile of blankets, and one warm girl. A warm girl who was willing to cheer him up, and managed to do so before she uttered a single word of comfort. How all he needed to do was cuddle with someone who understood the meaning of happiness, understood how to share their light, to learn that warmth was achievable for anyone. And learn he did.

"You're not alone," The light muttered, slightly muffled as she cuddled the broken boy she found on her terrace. "I know you think you are, but you're not. You don't have to keep everything to yourself. People will listen. _I_ will listen. You no longer have to suffer alone. For you aren't alone."

And that was all it took before he spilled. Everything came out. Every hurtful word from his father, every stressful moment piled on, from photoshoots to fencing to Chinese classes. Every little issue, even something as small as his phone not charging overnight, to large issues such as the ever-lingering feeling of emptiness that seemed to constantly follow him. And she was true to her word. She caressed his face when he grimaced, scratched behind the fake cat ears on his head when he struggled to continue, rubbed behind his real ears when he felt the tears welling up again.

And boy, did she listen. She listened to every single word that came from his mouth, committing them to memory. She stayed quiet for the entire duration he talked, which felt like hours, and it might have been. Waiting until he was completely done, had every single little drop of worry out of his system before she even considered opening her mouth. And even before speaking with words, she spoke with actions. She pulled the boy closer, using her warmth to slowly stitch him back together. With every rub she gave his back, she glued him back to one piece. With every small smile when he looked her in the eyes, she tied the broken pieces to one another. And slowly, but surely, she was holding a fragile, yet completely whole, boy. And she wasn't done fixing. For she was going to make sure this boy would never completely fall to pieces the way he had ever again.

"You'll always have a home with me. So I don't care what time it is. Whether it's 7 pm or it's 3 in the morning. I want you to come talk to me. I will be here, with warm macaroons to shove in your face, blankets to cocoon you with, and cuddles galore to remind you that you are loved. No more lonely nights holding it all in, okay?"

And just like that, almost as if by magic, the broken boy made of glass was whole for perhaps the first time in his life.

**Oof, that was rough.**

**So the basic story is that Adrien is broken. He isn't able to truly be himself, so he isn't able to truly feel. He wears this mask of 'perfection' so often that even he sometimes thinks that's the real him. So in order to provide a temporary fix, he transforms into Chat Noir and just runs. Running helps him forget for a little while, but this night it was different. Everything had caught up to him and he wasn't able to find the temporary feeling of 'okay'.**

**And that's when Marinette finds him on her balcony, balling his eyes out. And Marinette, being her sweet self, helps him realize that not everything is dark. That there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And for Chat, that light is her. He finds a home with her, and she makes sure he knows that home is always open. And throughout this whole process, he finally becomes a whole person again.**

**This was a lot more angsty than anything I've ever written before, so I'm sorry about that I guess? I purposely never used their names, as I thought it would make everything sound more eloquent and make the ending much sweeter, which I think it did. Let me know what you think about it, and I'll see you lovely people in the next fic!**


	2. Happiness

**Hey guys! I originally hadn't planned on continuing this story, but I have been wanting to make a story that has chapters. I was struck with sudden inspiration for the fic, and have one more chapter planned. I hope you enjoy!!**

**I do not own Miraculous Ladybug, otherwise these two idiots would be together already. **

_Click-clack. Click-clack._

As the assistant walked along the marble hallway, she was in a constant state of 'multi-task'. Reading through the model's schedule for the day, walking to wake up said model, and also making sure everything was in order for her boss's next fashion show.

_Click-clack. Click-clack. _

Arriving at her destination, she knocked curtly three times and waited for the door to open. She heard muffled footsteps as the boy padded over to the door. Yawning, said boy opened the door to greet the assistant.

Handing the tablet over with a professional tone, the assistant greeted him: "Good morning. Here is your schedule for the day. You are expected down for breakfast in 20 minutes."

"Good morning! Thank you Natalie!" The boy responded with a matching professional tone, shutting the door in the process.

Said assistant Natalie could only stand in shock, as the boy had not greeted her in such a way in almost a year now. He had used the same repetitive response, but it had almost generated a sort of warmth she had not seen from him since the disappearance of his mother.

Shaking her head, she quickly walked off to her next destination, hiding the growing smile on her face.

_Click-clack. Click-clack. _

...oOo...

"Yo, Adrien! What's up man?" Raising his hand for a fistbump, a red-capped boy greeted his friend in the same way he had every day this school year.

"Hey Nino! Not much, how about you?" The blond responded warmly, fistbumping his friend.

The boy dubbed Nino had to take a second to blink at his friend before he could even think to respond.

Taking in his best friend, he noticed nothing was out of place. He was wearing his normal outfit, his hair was the same, same greeting as normal. But, he almost radiated . . . warmth? And his smile was a lot more genuine than it normally was. And even though he was able to easily tell between the model smile and the real one, this one just seemed a lot more natural.

"You feeling okay man? You seem a lot more relaxed than normal." Nino inquired, hoping his dude wasn't so overly stressed he was calm or something along those lines.

"I've never been better." Adrien responded. Wistfully smiling, the model seemed to be transported to another place, remembering the cause of his newfound happiness.

Chuckling, Nino slung his arm around the blond's shoulders and started to head to class. If his best bro was feeling happy, he wasn't going to be the cause of its downfall, that was for sure.

As they headed to class, heads were constantly turning to take in the boy. Normally, a somber cloud seemed to hang around the boy's head, betraying the happy façade he puts on. But today, the cloud was nonexistent. Instead, there was an aura surrounding the boy, giving off a warmth like no other.

Once in class, a girl with journalistic dreams started to immediately ask what was up. Something was different, and she was going to be the first to know. Glancing to her left, Adrien grinned, responding that he "had no idea what she was talking about", and that "everything was exactly the same".

The girl he had glanced towards could not wipe the smile off of her face for 3 periods, knowing she was the cause of all his happiness. Knowing that she was the reason the normally masked man in front of her was coming to school without his well-worn mask for the first time ever.

...oOo...

All day Adrien was asked what was up, to which he could only cheerfully respond: "I have no idea what you're talking about!" No one was quite sure how to take the answer, so they all just shrugged and walked away, a little happier than they had been moments prior.

After all class periods for the day were done, the boy in question was putting his things away at his locker when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he grinned brightly, greeting the person who had requested his attention.

"Hey Marinette! How are you doing?"

With a small, albeit happy, smile on her face, Marinette quickly said: "Hi Adrien! I'm the happiest I've been in a long time, that's for sure! How are you doing?"

Blinking in surprise, the boy was shocked. This was the first time the girl had truly been focused on a conversation with him, out of costume of course, and not stuttered a single word! Grinning just a little bit brighter than before, if even possible, the boy cheerfully replied: "I'm doing even better after hearing that! What made you so happy?"

Smirking, the pink jeans clad girl stepped a little closer, retorting: "Oh, you of all people should know, Adrien!" Seeing the boy's confusion growing rapidly, the girl giggled, continuing. "But, seeing as though you don't remember the events of last night, I'll help the memories resurface.

"Last night, I was able to help a friend. I found him on my balcony, and I brought him in, fed him, cuddled him, and helped him piece himself back together again."

With her smirk growing as she watched the boy gulped nervously, she leaned forward just a bit and finished her thought. "He has the cutest leather cat ears, and his hair gets all messed up in just the most adorable way. He actually purrs, and his costume is very flattering on him. But, I suppose you already knew all this Adri-I mean, Kitty?"

Changing her entire demeanor, Marinette sprung up, ruffled the blond's hair, and sprang away while saying: "Hope to see you soon Kitty!"

Taking in a deep breath, the boy slid down his locker as he went through the entire conversation he just had.

She said his cat eats were cute.

Check.

She said his hair while messed up was adorable.

Check.

She knows he can purr.

Check.

She thinks his costume is flattering for him.

Check.

She knows he's Chat Noir.

Che-ah, _shit_.

Rubbing his hands all over his face, he couldn't help the smirk that grew over his face. He was glad to see that she wasn't mad it was him, and she wanted him to come over again! Grabbing his fencing gear, Adrien turned to get ready, all the while not being able to rid his face of the radiate smile that kept on growing.

...oOo...

"You really think my suit is flattering?" The boy of the night teased, hopping down from his perch on the roof.

Turning around to greet the boy, the girl couldn't stop her eyes from comically sweeping up and down his body before giving an affirmative: "Oh, yes sir."

Handing him a ladybug patterned mug that matched her paw print patterned mug, the girl turned around, admiring the view of her city. Coming up beside her, Chat Noir looked down at the cup for a few minutes before setting it down and pulling the girl with pigtails into a ginormous hug.

With a startled yelp, the girl took a second to fully respond to what had happened, before she set down the mug as best she could and returned the hug with all the love she could possibly give.

Not breaking from the hug, the boy, not able to hold in the happy tears that began to trail down his face, whispered: "I'm glad you know, Marinette."

**Awwww, wasn't that cute????**

**I started to drop names in the fic, as there wasn't a way for me to entirely avoid it like last chapter. After all, there were only two lines of dialogue last time compared to this chap. But, I did my best to keep it sparse and in between, and I hope I accomplished this goal.**

**I hope you enjoyed this! I feel like my writing could get better, but practice makes perfect! I've got one more chapter in the works for this, along with two other completely knew CHAPTERED stories!!! I'm super excited for these, and I hope I get to see you lovelies in the next fic!!!**


	3. Favor

***deep breath***

**You ever take a look back at your old work and re-read it and cringe because you see so many places where you would LOVE to change something, add bits and pieces to make it flow better? Especially when you're like me where you talk with an amazing vocabulary, but the second you start to type you sound like a third grader. AND when you KNOW you can write better, but have NO idea how to??**

***pants and gasps for air***

**Random rant over.****Hey guys! Here's the last chapter for this fic! I hope you all enjoy!!**

**I do not own Miraculous, otherwise there would be a lot more kissing between two specific characters.**

_Sniffle. Sniffle. _

As the red super heroine ran across the rooftops of Paris, she couldn't help her thoughts from drifting to earlier that day.

_Sniffle. Rub-rub._

A stupid fight, over a stupid topic. One that doesn't even matter, but results in the two parties refusing to communicate for the rest of the day.

She knew they would be back to their normal selves the next day. After a heartfelt apology and a few tears from each offender and hug, everything would be perfect again. But that didn't stop the sting she got every time she remembered she couldn't chat with her bestie till 3 am.

Her mind, trying to help her face become less red and blotchy, drifted to a happier moment that had happened only two days prior.

Her silly kitty had been so cute. Watching him squirm and blush his way through the conversation as she teased him had been one of her favorite moments with him. Hearing him splutter out as he slid down his locker had been the confidence boost of a lifetime.

_Sniffle. Sigh._

Her next favorite moment had happened that night, with him coming over and hugging her so tightly she could hardly take a breath. Learning how affection the kitten could be was an experience of its own, one she would gladly repeat in a heartbeat.

As her mind was filled with thoughts of her partner, she idly wondered if he was out and about. Stopping her thought-clearing run, she opened up her bug phone and dialed his number.

It rang twice before he picked up, and a cheery voice popped up with a quick "Hey My Lady! What's up?"

Her mood already rising because of her partner's voice, she muttered out a "Hey Chat. Not much, I was just wondering if you were up."

"Woah, woah. You sound like you've been crying! Is everything okay My Lady?" Concern pouring out of the speaker, the spotted girl almost broke right then and there.

"Not really. Could you meet me at the Eiffel Tower in five?"

With the wind rushing in the background, indicating he was already on the move, she heard a muffled "Be there in two."

Chuckling, despite the tears threatening to come out at any second, she closed the phone and started to head towards Paris's most well known landmark.

...oOo...

"My Lady! What happened? Who I need to threaten? Who am I going after?"

Burying her face in his chest, she mumbled something about that "not being necessary" and how she "just wanted to see her kitten".

Sitting down, with his arm around her shoulders, Ladybug leaned into her partner. As the cat rubbed her arm, she took a deep, slow breaths before she dared speak.

"I have a favor to ask of you, Chaton."

"Yes."

"You don't even know what it is yet!" She mustered out between her giggles.

"That doesn't matter. I'd do anything for you."

Blushing, she looked down at her hands in her lap before enlightening her partner as to what she wanted from him.

"Could you return the favor I gave you the other day? I know it really helped you out, and my problem isn't nearly as large or as deep as yours was, but it just sounds like something I need and I don't want it from anyone but you."

Quirking his head to the side, Chat Noir could only stare at his partner in confusion. He searched her face for any recognition as to what she was asking of him, but he was only able to shake his head and voice his confusion.

With a small smirk that did nothing to hide the growing blush, the heroine pulled her cat out of his confusion.

"Well, since you evidently can't remember, I'll be very generous and remember. But only this once, or twice I suppose." With the last comment confusing him twice as much as before, she continued.

'"He has the cutest leather cat ears, and his hair gets all messed up in just the most adorable way. He actually purrs, and his costume is very flattering on him. But, I suppose you already knew all this Adri-I mean, Kitty?"'

She watched as her partner slowly, but surely, understood what it was she was saying. With a look of pure adoration and wonderment floating across his face, he looked at her with what could only be described as 'heart eyes'.

"Well My Lady," he started, trying to be suave but the blush preventing him from being completely successful. "I can't do you much help here on the Eiffel Tower. So why don't we head to a more comfortable setting?"

_Pitter. Pitter._

Looking out, the boy of the night started to laugh, getting out something along the lines of "Perfect! Just like the other night!" before turning and scooping his partner into his arms.

"I hope this is okay, Purr-incess. But I wouldn't exactly be your knight in shining armor if I allowed you to run while in this mental state, now would I?"

Snuggling into his hold, causing him to splutter out while his face rivaled hers, the girl quietly retorted: "That's why you're the best, Chaton. Thank you."

"It's my purr-leasure Princess. I'll do it every second of every day if you'll let me."

...oOo...

The screams that made up the courtyard the next morning at school was more than apology enough for Marinette.

**Daaaaaaang. Go me!**

**I hope you all enjoyed this little fic! I've got a one-shot and two chattered stories in the works, so keep an eye out for those!!**

**Also, if anyone has the time, would some of you lovelies mind PMing me and helping me out with the whole theme, of sorts, of one of the fics? Obviously you don't have to, but I've got two synopsises to choose from and I can't**** decide.**

**Have a wonderful rest of your day, and see you lovelies next time!!**


End file.
